Robin's Choice
by I'm.The.Tin.Dog
Summary: Richard Grayson recently broke up with his best friend, Barbara Gordon, but now he's thinking of rekindling the flame, will that change when he meets a beautiful new student named Kori Anders? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

"Another F, Mr. Grayson, if your grades continue this way, I'm going to have to call your father," My history teacher hissed "again." I shrugged, Fs were old news, happened all the time now a days, in every class. I've got so much on my plate that school has just ceased to be a priority. Well okay, I really only have two problems, besides the failing, but they're both huge. The first, is obviously Batman himself. We just can't seem to see eye to eye anymore. He won't take me seriously, and I feel as if I get reprimanded if I do too much, or not enough. There is no in between when he can look at me and say "good job, Robin!" the way he used to, the way he did when Batgirl still worked with us. She's the other problem. After what happened between me and her, she's kind of been doing her own thing as Batgirl, with Bruce for cover if she needs it, but come on, she's Batgirl. She doesn't need help. My current relationship, or lack of relationship, with Batgirl is really the biggest problem. Not that I just want to date her, I mean that I haven't even spoken with her in weeks, and that's a record. It's distracting me so much that I can't focus when I'm fighting or I'm in school, and the grades are starting to reflect that. It pisses Bruce off, I know but I can't help it.

See the thing is, I used to date Batgirl. It made sense ya know? I mean we had always been best friends, always there for each other. And she's always had an enormous crush on me, so I figured why not? Besides, I needed a break from the hordes of shallow Barbies that go to our school, I can never get them away from me. There were no girls in our school that I would willingly date, except Babs. I never really liked her the way she liked me, but it worked out pretty well for a while. We had dated for about 5 months I think, but then I started becoming obsessive with crime fighting. I wanted more responsibility, and to try things out on my own. Then the problems with Bruce sided, and when Babs refused to take sides, I kind of felt betrayed I guess. She had always stuck up for me against Batman, but then she started agreeing with him, saying that she didn't want me to get hurt. I know she meant it in the nicest way, but I couldn't help thinking that it was unfair. Our relationship was starting to crumble anyway. I mean we're just very different.

At school, my friends Vic Stone, Gar Logan, Rachel Roth, Karen Beecher, Roy Harper, Donna Troy and I are the coolest people there, no question. But Babs never really meshed with the rest of us. She was always kind of quiet and shy around them, which was…really weird. That's not her style, but I think she might have been jealous of my new friends, and I tried talking to her, but she didn't want to listen. Anyway, we ended things about 2 months ago, but since then, we've been drifting, and it terrifies me. How would you feel if your oldest and closest friend just suddenly wasn't there? It's hard and strange not to see her every day, the way we used to. And honestly, she was probably the best girlfriend I ever had, and the only serious girlfriend because I never really got to know the others. I don't think I've ever been in love with a girl. Sure there are plenty of chicks that I think are hot, and then Babs and Rachel are 2 of my best friends, but never that real special feeling that all my other friends seem to have. Gar has Rachel, Vic has Karen, Roy has Donna, but I've got no one.

And even though I'm not in love with her, I don't even think I have a crush on her. I hate being the guy that broke her heart, and if restarting our relationship is the only way I'm going to see her again, then I am defiantly going to try.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't own teen titans, never had, and probably never will .

"Okay class, we have a new student, recently moved from…Tana-Tam, well why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself Miss…" my homeroom teacher, Ms. Obern stuttered.

"Many thanks, I am Kori Anders, from the country of Tamaran, and my-" Kori began until she was interrupted by Roy.

"Where the fuck is Tamaram, in the middle of nowhere? I've never even heard of a place called Tama- whatever" he questioned a little rudely. The poor girl looked very nervous and offended and she blushed, it made her tanned cheeks look like ripe apples. My eyes roamed over her face, gorgeous. She had a perfect kissable looking mouth, and a face with perfectly symmetrical features (there one thing I remember from math), and flowing ruby colored tresses that reached the small of her back, but her crowning feature were those huge eyes. They were a vivid shade of green, so full of life and expression that you could get lost in them, I've met a lot of hot women, from school and from duty, but she was something else. She was tall and thin, and she was clearly in great shape, but she still had some curves and a pair of perky breasts. She kind of reminded me of a hotter Babs. I felt bad that Roy, one of my great friends, would just diss her like that.

"Chill out Roy, there are a lot of places that you've never heard of," I cut in smoothly. That got some laughs, Roy's face turned a little red and he gave me a thanks-a-lot look. I shrugged, then smiled charmingly at Kori.

"Hello Kori Anders, I'm Richard Grayson, I'm sure my friend Roy over here would love it if you would continue your story." She looked at me for a split second, but just as we made eye contact, her green orbs with my turquoise ones, she blushed, redder this time, and began to speak in her sweet, musical voice.

"Oh erm… yes, Tamaran is a very small country in Europe, near Poland. My family and I just moved here because, my father is now the Tamaranean ambassador to the US, so he decided to move here, but I miss my country greatly…" She trailed off, looking a little wistful, then she took her seat, which was conveniently adjacent to mine. I smiled at her. The bell chimed and we strolled out of class together. Roy gave me a wink, he knew me so well, and already guessed that I thought Kori was hot. I grinned at him in response then tuned my attention back to Kori. Turns out we share almost every class. We finally got to history, and my teacher, Mr. Raymond looked flabbergasted when I walked into with a smile on my face.

"Well let's hope that whatever it is that has made Mr. Grayson so happy," he glanced briefly at Kori, then continued "won't distract him any further, but I'm not sure that your grades can fall anymore," he enunciated. I glared at him, usually I just let his insults slide off my back because I was to down in my own funk to notice. But, now that I was awake, and all because of a girl I just met, that stung. I bet I could do well if I tried, who needs history anyway?

"If you require any assistance, history has always been my best and favorite subject. Perhaps I could help you?" Kori asked gently. Forget what I just said, I need history, it practically just secured me a date with the hottest girl in school.

When the final bell rang dismissing school for the day, I thought about how lucky I was that I had gotten to know Kori first. Literally every guy we saw was drooling over her. Not that I blame them, but it kind of pisses me off. Kori doesn't even seem to notice, she is so innocent and oblivious, she doesn't seem to know that she's drop dead gorgeous. It's one of many things that I already love about her.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been about five months since Kori first moved here, and we've been going out ever since she helped tutor me in history. All my friends adore her and we always hang out together. But Babs is still a problem. I've tried to get them to meet so many times, but Babs keeps delaying it. I don't want her to get hurt so I let it be. Sure I still hang out with Babs, though not as often as we used to. It's different to see each other now because of all the unspoken words between us. The gap will just get bigger if we leave it alone, and I was terrified of losing my oldest and best friend. That's why I wanted my best friend to get to know Kori, so I invited them both to the mall to hang out. Let's just say it didn't go to well. Kori was genuinely interested in getting to know Barbara, but Babs didn't want anything to do with Kori. Every time Kori and I touched or flirted with each other (which I tried to limit because of Babs) she would glare at Kori. She remained icily silent for almost the entire visit which wasn't actually very long considering that she ran out of the mall when Kori inquired if she was seeing anyone. I tried to run after her but she left before I could catch up to her. Needless to say, Kori felt horrible, and she tried calling Babs to apologize, but Babs wouldn't answer her cell. Now I'm really screwed.

I went over to see Babs to try and sort things out the next day. She opened up the door, but once she saw it was me she attempted to close it. My reflexes reacted and I extended my hand to catch the door right before it slammed shut. She glared at me with her red rimmed eyes and my grip slackened. I really hope she hadn't just been crying over me, but I know better.

"Hey Babs, listen can I please come in. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry and to explain everything," I waited for a response, but one never came. I sighed and continued, still standing on the door step because she hadn't let me in yet.

"So anyway, I'm sorry that the meeting with Kori went so badly, she didn't know about us, and it's not her fault. But Babs, I really think that you'd like her a lot if you got to know her. She's nice, sweet, and really smart, oh and you know that she's Starfire right? The newest member of the Teen Titans, she can fight really well and-" I stopped when I saw the anguished and furious expression that was forming on her face and thought that maybe singing Kori's praises hadn't been the best move. I tried explaining again.

"Sorry Babs, I was trying to explain that she's not just a random, one night stand kind of girl, I don't know if that makes things easier between us, but hopefully it helps." She was still silent, I was hoping that she would let me in, but I didn't want to push it.

"Richard, if anything it would make me feel better if she was a 'one night stand kind of girl' because then you might get over her! With this _wonderful_ Kori, you've basically just said that she's better than I was, and I just wish that she never came along, and that you could love me the same way you love her," she paused and she was visibly on the brink of tears again, that bothered me, the Batgirl I used to know, before we dated never ever cried and it hurt that I was the one that had made her cry so much.

"Maybe it would be best if we had always just been friends," she whispered so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. A single tear fell from her eye. Then without looking at me she slowly pried my fingers off the door, and shut it gently.

"Goodbye Richard," I heard her say softly.

"Bye Babs"

Besides a few brief encounters in school, I never saw much of her for a while, but I knew that was how she wanted it, and there was no way I was going to hurt her anymore than I already had. Kori realized that I was sad, and I was grateful that she and all my other friends tried so hard to cheer me up, but it was pointless. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't depressed or anything serious, just a little quieter and sad. It bugged the hell out of Roy and Gar, but it helped me become even closer to Kori.

As for Kori and I, we dated through the rest of senior year, and it wasn't till after graduation that I began to have any doubts about our relationship.


	4. Chapter 4

I broke up with Kori the summer before college. That was four years ago and I've been with Babs ever since. Babs is great, happier than I've ever seen her. I really didn't mean to hurt Kori, but Babs and I were both going to Dartmouth (courtesy of Bruce) and she was going back to Tamaran to visit for a year. Being with Babs just made sense. It sucks though. Now I'm back in Jump after another fight with Bruce. The team is still here, but Babs is not, and it's really hard to think about Babs with Kori kicking villain ass in a really skimpy uniform.

The team's reaction to my return was mixed. Both the guys were psyched and things went back to normal like that. Raven was a little reserved, but then again she is Kori's best friend. Kori was the big shocker. She seemed kind of melancholy. Like she still missed me, but wished I hadn't shown up. I know it hurts her to be around me sometimes. Damn. Does it ever get easier? If I'm with Kori I break Babs' heart, if I'm with Babs, Kori is the heartbroken one. And I don't know how to choose between the two of them.

On one hand there's Kori. She's beautiful, but it's not just skin deep. She's nice and sweet and so much fun to be around. Definitely the hottest girl I've ever seen. Her friends mean the world to her and she's got a heart of gold. And the way that she's so eager to learn about Earth is endearing. She's like an opposite of me. She's warm, I'm cool and reserved. Babs is on the other shoulder. Babs is more like a duplicate of me. We're both quiet and serious and care so much about crime fighting. Our passion for this is what brings us together. Plus, we've known each other forever and I know everything about her. She's one of the smartest people I've ever met which makes her really interesting to talk to once she's warmed up to you. But I don't know if opposites attract in this case or if I should go with two of a kind.

I've been in Jump for a month now. Things aren't going well at all. Babs is coming next week which is probably the worst timing ever. Kori and I were finally starting to talk to each other again. Up until now we've barely exchanged more words than necessary, but lately we've been opening up and chatting just like old times. I haven't cheated on Babs and Kori doesn't try and make me, but it was so awesome to hang out with Kori again. The only problem is that Kori is leaving the day before Babs arrives. She says she's gotten invited to join another team.

"Robin, I'm sorry, but I cannot be here when she comes. It is too hard to be near her after everything that happened between us. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to go…"

"I do."

"I'll leave if you want."

"If it were possible, I would want you to stay forever. I miss you so much and would come back to you in a heartbeat. But you knew that did you not?" Mutely, I nodded in assent. My emotions were whirling inside of me. I needed more time to think about which girl meant the most to me.

When I finally arrived at my conclusion, it was too late. The pain I felt at Kori's departure was not healed by Babs' arrival. I knew that if Babs was the one for me, then it wouldn't have mattered that Kori was gone. Babs couldn't compare with the beautiful alien that had captured my heart all those years ago.

I explained this to a distraught Babs, still feeling pain at each tear that rolled down her face, but I knew that I had made the right choice. I told Babs just how sorry I was that we couldn't be together.

"I never meant to hurt you, it just happened that way. I really am sorry." I paused and gave her a quick hug to try and comfort her. She fell into my arms sobbing.

"You know that if you ever need me I'll be there for you."

"I need you now Dick!"

"But, I can only be here as your friend, your best friend."

"Then this is goodbye Dick?"

"I'll miss you." She nodded and walked away from the T-ship. Before jumping in and taking off I looked back one last time. I kept looking, but Babs never looked back.

It's been five years since that day. I'm married to Kori. We have a daughter named Mariandr', Marie for short. She's just as beautiful as her mother. With red hair like Kori's but blue eyes like mine. Tomorrow is her second birthday. Things turned out pretty well. The Titans and I are still fighting crime, and even Bruce has started to accept me for who I am. I can honestly say that there is one thing that I regret. Babs has not been seen since the day of her departure from Jump. I know she's not dead. I can feel it. But, I have to live knowing that I ruined her everything. She's stopped fighting crime, stopped visiting Bruce. Not even her father knows where she is. Funny thing though. There's a new superhero named Oracle who gives me the strangest look whenever I see her. Sometimes I wonder if I know her.


End file.
